Suspension (canon law)
The suspension or suspension is a flexural penalty of Catholic canon law with which a church official can be prohibited from exercising his office. It is intended to induce those affected to give up views or behavior that are not compatible with church teaching.
The legal basis is the canons 1333 ff. Of the Codex of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church . The measure can only affect clerics ; The local bishop is responsible for the imposition . The extent of the suspension is determined by law, administrative order, criminal judgment or criminal decree.
Legal consequences
The suspension completely or partially prohibits the exercise of acts of ordination , acts of governance and the rights or tasks associated with an office, insofar as they are under the power of disposal of the superior who determines the punishment. Exceptions are provided, among other things, if the exercise of the act is “necessary for the salvation of believers who are in danger of death” (can. 1335 CIC 1983)
The suspension does not affect the offender's right of residence based on his office and the right to manage goods belonging to the office of the suspended person himself, if the punishment is a criminal offense . (can. 1333 §3 CIC 1983)
The suspension may prohibit receipt of income, salaries, pensions and other income. In this case, there is an obligation to restitute unlawfully received services without the good faith of the recipient being important.
Well-known cases recently
1976 Pope Paul VI suspended Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre , the founder of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X. , because of unauthorized ordinations.
A common reason for a suspension was the so-called intercelebrations , i.e. the common celebration of the Eucharist by clergymen of different Christian denominations , or intercommunion in the sense of an invitation to non-Catholic Christians to receive communion in a Catholic Holy Mass . Well-known cases in this context are the suspensions of Hermann Münzel (Diocese of Trier) and Peter Hausberger (Archdiocese of Salzburg) from 2000, as well as the Gotthold Hasenhüttls (also Diocese of Trier) in 2003.
The suspension of Pastor Hans Trimpl, pronounced in 2004 by Regensburg Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller because of his contacts with the Regensburg working group, which is critical of the church, was withdrawn.
In October 2005 the pastor of Röschenz, Franz Sabo , was suspended by the Basel Bishop Kurt Koch in connection with the dispute over the occupation of the pastor's position because of "presumption of office, inciting disobedience and obstruction to office". The suspension was withdrawn in autumn 2007 after the parish priest and Bishop Koch had reconciled.